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- [00:00]
Colin Cowherd
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Virgin Voyages is where luxury meets travel. Book it and see what you've been missing. Learn more@virginvoyages.com or contact your travel advisor. Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio, Here we go. It is a Tuesday. A lot to talk about live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. I was thinking about this coming in in what we do for a living. Whenever there's like a big trade or like the NFL draft, everybody's always J. Mac saying this team won the trade, this team lost. And. And the biggest trade in recent memory is Luca to the Lakers for AD. And there's a feeling is Dallas will be terrible and the Lakers will win several titles. But they would not have traded Luca if he was in great shape and was an unbelievable defender. Well, then he'd be LeBron. You wouldn't trade him. They traded him for a reason, because they saw holes in his game, which by the way, he'd missed the last two camps. He had multiple injuries. So here's what's interesting. When LeBron leaves, they comes back and he's not at 100%. Lakers are trash. That's funny because LeBron, even way past his prime. LeBron has won without AD has won without Austin Rivers and won without Luca. Won with bad coaches. But Luca without LeBron or LeBron at 100%, Lakers get throttled by bad teams. Why is that? That's why Dallas let him go. And I wouldn't have but this idea that luka was like LeBron, elite defender, elite leader, elite offensive player, elevated. Everybody build a franchise around him, no flaws. That's not what Luca is. And you're seeing it. Here is Luca without LeBron. They've lost seven of 10 or Luca now with LeBron not quite in game shape, not quite at 100%, they're getting throttled by bad teams. And this has always been my several year argument. If your company doesn't resign you, even if you're talented, they see a hole in your game. This is why I argued for years. Carmelo Anthony is a great all time player. Hall of Famer, didn't elevate teammates, didn't play defense. Luka is a much better version of Carmelo, by the way. Carmelo and Dominique Wilkins and Luka, great scores. None of them defend at that level. Kobe and MJ are great scores. They had a different mindset. And you're going to get points with Luka. Defense, forget about it elevating everybody. He'll elevate some players, he'll take the ball away from others. LeBron's also a great on court coach and leader. Lucas talking is often barking at refs or Trash talking. And by the way, that's part of basketball's culture. It doesn't bother me. But LeBron talking and Luca talking are two different things. I mean, J.J. redick has complained multiple times. Yeah, we don't communicate when LeBron's out. Well, isn't that where Luca should step in? Luca's game is much more individualist, you know, he is much more an individual star, more of a lead singer in a band who can occasionally step back, you know, and let. And let the bass player have his moment. But he's a lead singer. LeBron's always been more magic than Michael or Kobe. He's much more an orchestra leader, elevating everybody, much more magic, stepping back, making sure there's a rhythm and spacing. LeBron isn't a trash talker. Luka is. LeBron doesn't spend a lot of time barking at refs. Luka does. LeBron moves furiously without the ball at times. Luka doesn't. LeBron defends. Luka has very little interest. More of a hobby than a vocation. And that is not to say Luka's not great. But if you're at a company and they're like, yeah, we're going to, we're going to move on, it's not always the company was wrong. Again, I'll make this argument. Charles Barkley's made it. When Dallas is totally healthy, probably next year, they have a chance to get to the finals. Ad, I mean, Kyrie, even, even Max Christie can play a center rotation. The kid out of duke. The minute LeBron's not around, the minute LeBron's not at 100%. What's J.J. redick complain about? We don't communicate. We don't rotate as well. Well, they do when LeBron's there and Luke is not. And this is the difference. Maybe this is just the difference between, like MJ and Barkley. You know, one was always in great shape, one defended. They both scored a lot of points. But there is a gap between all time LeBron and all time Luka. Don't kid yourself. There is a major gap. And they've lost three of. They've won three of 10. And this is not 100% LeBron. So again, the way we do it in sports, this team got nothing in return. And this team team got the greatest player of all time. But it is interesting, in the last 10 games, seven no LeBron. And now you're getting, you know, guy who missed a couple of weeks, he's acknowledging he's not quite right. Defensively not quite right. Cardio wise, they're not very good. And here's JJ Redick after losing to Orlando last night. I don't know, we just like, we look tired and I don't know what contributes to that. That happens periodically throughout a season where the group gets tired. That's what it feels like right now. You know when they don't look tired is when LeBron is playing, not injured 100%. You never hear that the team looks flat, doesn't communicate, looks tired when LeBron's not at 100% and the Lakers look tired and can't beat Orlando. It's funny how that works, isn't it? So this is something I talked about yesterday on the show and I don't think it's a conspiracy theory. It is easy right now to rip Aaron Rodgers. What is he making people wait for? So yesterday I brought this up on the show, is that I think Aaron's too smart to look at Pittsburgh and go, this is perfect. He flew there to the Steelers and he didn't leave with a contract. Now, he may sign by the end of this rant, but he didn't sign for the great Pittsburgh Steelers. And Albert Brear had a story today that Aaron Rodgers is telling friends, we talked about this yesterday. He's looking for a better culture. He looked at Green Bay and realizes not only a good culture, but an offensive culture. And this is what I said. I think Aaron Rodgers is sitting around for a couple of weeks and I think he's right. Waiting on the Niners, Brock Purdy. I don't think the Niners are going to pay Brock Purdy 59 million a year. And that, according to his agent, is what he wants. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but Aaron needs to go on another darkness retreat. Aaron needs to hide, avoid commitment, plan an excursion, call your travel agent if people use those anymore. The Steelers is fool's gold. Tomlin can't figure out the offense. It's been seven years. Forget about it. And 59. Listen to this. It was 66 the year before. 59 quarterbacks played last year. There will be opportunities. You could argue Kirk Cousins should have waited last year until after the draft and and not gone to Atlanta. But he signed in March and then Atlanta drafted a quarterback. Is it the worst thing in the world for Aaron to not sign? Wait on the draft. See how the dominoes fall and somebody could go, guys, we didn't get a quarterback. We're in trouble here now. Now I think you can fairly say and this isn't really a criticism of Favre and Aaron Rodgers. I mean, Green Bay is pretty small and sleepy. Is that maybe they didn't appreciate it. Grass is greener, you know, friendly media, good organization. That's not a real criticism. I could see somebody playing for 15 years in green Bay and thinking, man, I'm kind of jealous of those New York, Louisiana, San Francisco, you know, big city teams. I get that. That's not a criticism, but I'm not giving Brock Purdy $58 million. And one of the reasons I've said this before on this show, if you wonder if you're making a great move, you could be a TV executive, you could be an NFL general manager. If you are about to make a big move, what does your rival think? And you know who would be okay with Purdy getting 60 million a year? Sean McVeigh. He'd be really okay with that with his young defense, little Brock Purdy, not a big arm Brock Purdy, Sean McVay would be just fine having Matt Stafford for two more years and they're locked in on a $60 million a year Brock Purdy deal. So it, it's, you know, I, I just look at this whole thing, is that Aaron. Multiple reports said he really wanted the Vikings offer. Why? Because of Kevin O'Connell. It wasn't the receiver, it was Kevin O'Connell. Offensive coach Aaron, last year in his last 10 starts, do you realize this? With arguably the worst coaching staff in the league, certainly the worst offensive coaching staff in the league, and a mediocre O line had more touchdown passes and a higher passer rating than Brock Purdy. With Kyle Shanahan, I honestly think, and again, he could sign with Pittsburgh today. I know you don't have to like Aaron. You can be resentful about his vaccine status and his whatever, but he's not a dummy. And when you see those pictures in Malibu, when he's listening to stuff, I, I think he's sitting there thinking, Minnesota would have been great. I know the division. I love the coach, I love their weapons. O line got upgraded significantly in Minnesota in the off season. I think he looks at Pittsburgh and so much of it sounds good. Steelers defense, Mike Tomlin, battle line lost their left tackle too. High maintenance. Wide receivers spend more money on defense than anybody in the league. Is that really a great fit? Does Aaron feel like a Pittsburgh guy? He loves Malibu and he loves New York. And if the Giants were humming, he'd probably sign there. But I, I, this Albert Breer story that Aaron is talking to people like he wants. The organization is key, not just the personnel and I think once Minnesota said no thanks, I think San Francisco something to keep your eye on again. Kirk Cousins signed in March. He would not have signed with Atlanta in April, late April after the Pennocks they wouldn't assign there. Kirk Cousins now is looking for a new team. Aaron could think, well what if I sign blank? What if Pittsburgh, I signed with Pittsburgh and all of a sudden somebody falls and they end up picking a quarterback mid to late first round Jackson dart. What am I doing here? I'm just, I'm saying I'm not, I'm not advocating for in season ayahuasca but another darkness retreat is not a terrible idea for Aaron Rodgers. Take a deep breath. Go hide for a while. So J. Mac, I, I'm still, I, I don't mean to gloat, but 15 of 16 teams left in the tournament. I, I couldn't sleep last night. I just had, I had Tom Izzo, you know, in my sleep last night. Very excited. Let's not get into that. Yeah, yeah. Let's go back to Aaron Rodgers. I got this stat from a Jets fan.
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Jason McIntyre
Are you ready?
- [14:27]
Colin Cowherd
So Aaron Rodgers had the second most.
- [14:29]
Jason McIntyre
Passing yards of any quarterback in the.
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Colin Cowherd
League in the fourth quarter. And no, those weren't clutch comebacks. Those were basically the jets getting buried after three quarters and Rodgers just stat padding. So I know you're pumped up about those final 10 games, but 31% of his yards, 31% of his touchdowns came in the fourth quarter. Well, you know, when you're old, those bones take a couple quarters to warm up.
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Jason McIntyre
Yeah, excuses, excuses.
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Colin Cowherd
I love it. So they're Is it possible that there is an unsolvable problem and every league has one? And I'll go over them coming up next. Every league has one unsolvable problem is that it's just baked in, embedded in the sport. Does the NBA have a tanking issue and there's nothing they can do about it? And I'll talk about that next. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. It's the last game of the season and with amex, you can save time with card member entrances at select venues and go straight to the action so you can catch every moment. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Learn more@american express.com with AmEx, all you renters out there, here's something from Rocket Mortgage. You're going to want to hear now. Anyone who has ever rented before knows that feeling you get every month. Your hard earned cash gone. It's like throwing money away. Even more frustrating is the knowledge that every dollar you spent on rent is a dollar you could have put towards your future. It can make it feel like you'll never be able to save enough to afford a home of your own. And that's what makes what Rocket Mortgage is doing so special. Rocket Mortgage is now helping you put your monthly rent payments towards home ownership. It's called Rent Rewards and for the first time, you can save up to $5,000 off the cost of your home just by paying rent. Only at Rocket Mortgage. If this sounds like something that could make a difference in your life, call 804Rocket or visit rocket.com learn more about rent rewards that's 804Rocket or rocket.com Rocket Mortgage LLC equal housing lender licensed in all 50 states. NMLS consumeraccess.org number 3030 this podcast is brought to you by Pfizer. Let's talk health. You may not know about pneumococcal disease, but if you're 50 or older, or 19 or older with certain medical conditions like diabetes, you're at risk. And it could turn your plans, big or small, into a hospital visit. So get vaccinated. It's one action you can take to help protect against pneumococcal pneumonia, an invasive pneumococcal disease. Keep enjoying everything you're looking forward to, even if it's just a podcast. Schedule a shot@vaxassist.com you can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected. From big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile, keep your phone and they'll pay it off. Up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. All right, welcome back. Nick Wright, one hour from now. About 50 minutes actually from now. So there, there was a story. You know, there's been a lot of talk about load management in the NBA. Here's the good news. The young players like sga, Tatum, Ant, those guys like to play. They play every night. So a lot of the old school guys. Lebron's going to take some time off. Ad for injuries can take time off but the young guys mostly like to play. Giannis will take time off, bigger guy, body falls apart a little bit. Dame can take night. Young guys want to play. Tatum wants to play, Jalen Brown, and those guys want to play. But there is the other issue that we talked about yesterday. Late season tanking. So I looked at the Pelicans and Sixers played last night. The starting lineups are embarrassing. I mean, I would not watch them play if they were playing in my backyard. I mean, it was just like, just a bunch of nonsense. And I, I think the league has tried to fix it by flattening the lottery odds. So tanking won't help you. So you can have the worst record and not get the number one pick. So the league has really tried to do this. I think load management, David Stern solved it with fines. And I think a lot of these young guys want to play more games. So I think load management's bad. But I think you can tweak it. They did this year. They tweaked it. You don't win certain awards unless you play over 65 games. I think that's been helpful. I don't think you can solve the tanking thing. And it's hurting the ratings. There's no question the quality of basketball in the NBA march on from the non playoff teams is garbage. It's turning off fans and hurting the ratings. And maybe it's just this. Every sport has an unsolvable issue. The NFL has violence and players get hurt sometimes seriously. And there's concussions. And they've tried to end them. They can't totally. Hockey, most of us didn't play. We didn't play as kids. We're not connected to it. It feels like Canada sport. Baseball, there's really no urgency because the season's so long until like late September and October and in the NBA and basketball and we know this, and it's the same in international soccer. If you get a superstar, it changes everything in one year. I mean, I was just watching Celtic City, the Bill Simmons project. I watched two episodes last night. Episode three loved it. And then episode four with Larry Bird. They were bad. Larry Bird arrives. They were good. It was that fast. And so I think it's also just part of the basketball culture from AAU to college to the NBA. Go get the guy. You win immediately. And in basketball, it's different because you can spot the next great basketball prodigy at 14 years old. Go Google when Wemby was first spotted or Luca was spotted or Lebron was first spotted. It's 14, 15 years old. COOPER Flag two years ago. Well, let's say one year ago he was what, 16, 17 years old. Everybody's like oh, that'll be the number one guy. That's not the case in football. Who are you tanking for? The three best players in the league are Mahomes, Josh Allen and arguably Lamar Jackson. They went to second tier football schools. They didn't get drafted number one. They had doubters all the way through. College football is more about even when you're great. We've seen Patrick Mahomes get blown out in two Super Bowls. Why? Left tackles. Bad Cleveland. When LeBron showed up, he was scoring 25 a night as a rookie for a horrible Cleveland franchise. He was still a star on both ends of the floor. So my take is Cooper flag now is 17 people have known for the last year minimum get Cooper flag. That's the guy. And so teams can plan two and three years out. I mean there was Wemby talk three years ago. San Antonio's like, ah, suddenly started letting players go. Remember they didn't re sign. Like was it Dejounte Murray or something? Why wouldn't they resign him? They wanted Wemby and Popovich wasn't gonna get fired. So I do think to some degree this is an unsolvable problem. I think load management. I think the NBA has done things like you got to play 65 games or you don't win awards. I think the young players have seen that. And ant sga Jason Tatum. Simmons talked about this yesterday. Jayson Tatum, he's the first of the arena last to leave. He likes to play, it's been Tatum season. He's the best guy in the team. And other than SGA and Jokic, he's been the most day to day impactful guy in the league and he's really durable which I think, you know, both of us have criticized NBA players for. You play 65 games and you call it a season and you take like little sabbaticals or you leave or you nurse injuries. Tatum's out there all the time. I've said this, I've gone to see Tatum play four times. Never in Boston. First guy on the floor two hours before tip off working on his jumper. So I, it was shocking last night. Tatum tweaked his ankle yesterday which was shocking because he's so durable and he plays both ends of the floor. And so I think you can work your way around load management. I do not think in basketball you can work your way around tanking finest. It doesn't matter. We get Wemby, we're going to make. He'll make the franchise worth two billion more dollars. Go ahead, find me. Find me. $50 million as an owner. Go ahead, Go ahead, find me. What, what was LeBron worth for the Cavaliers? $2 billion minimum. You can't find teams enough that tank. Owners don't care. But if I, if I, you know, I buy a team for $2 billion, it'll be worth 8 over the next decade. Go ahead, find me. What do I care? I want Wemby. I want Cooper. Flag one more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, it's Steve Covino and I'm Rich Davis, and together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. And of course, the iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world. We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture.
- [24:14]
Jason McIntyre
Stories that, well, other shows don't seem.
- [24:16]
Colin Cowherd
To have the time to discuss.
- [24:17]
Jason McIntyre
And the fact that we've been friends.
- [24:19]
Colin Cowherd
For the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino and.
- [24:34]
Jason McIntyre
Rich live on Fox Sports radio and.
- [24:35]
Colin Cowherd
The iHeartradio app from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich.
- [24:42]
Jason McIntyre
Wherever you get your podcast.
- [24:43]
Colin Cowherd
And of course, on social media, that's Covino and Rich. You know, it's funny. You have kids and all my kids now, except one, are in their 20s and so they go on job interviews and, you know, I've, I've talked to my kids about this. Like, there's certain things, you know, I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to helicopter parent, but, you know, I'll tell my daughter. Yeah, you probably don't want to bring up vacation time on your first interview. I have a company, 50 employees, growing fast. If you're asking about that in the first five minutes, you're probably not built for my company. I Like grinders. Sorry. There are. There are things you just don't say in life. Even though you think them, you may not want to say them. And this was a moment yesterday. It's not the end of the world, but football is the ultimate team sport. It is the ultimate team sport. Everybody plays hurt. Everybody plays hurt. You grab that rope, and if there's one loose grip on that rope, it can screw up the whole team. One guy not committed. And I. I heard Puka Nukua yesterday, at 23 years old, say this, and I didn't love it. I want to retire at the age of 30. I'm 23 right now. I'm going into year three. So, like 10 years. It wouldn't even be 10 years. It'd be like maybe seven or eight. But I'm like, ad I think of Aaron Donald, like, man, like to he to go out at the top. I think it would be super cool. Hopefully, like the rest of career, go healthy. But like, man, you have shoulder surgery, you have knee surgery, you have ankle and be like, yo, like, by the time my kids could be 18, I'm like, I could be barely walking if I, like. If you play the game and like, you sustain all the injuries. Don't love it. You know, when Trevor Lawrence said, I'm not defined by football, it doesn't speak necessarily for me. And my thought was, well, that, that says a lot. NFL general managers, here's a little secret. They're not looking for work, life balance. They're not. They don't care. They want you to be Kobe. They want you to be obsessed. They want you to be Brady. They want you to be Lamar Jackson. They don't want work, life balance. And I think it actually puts a light on Puka. What if next year he's got more than. More than a few drops? Is that guy committed? Is he putting in the time? He misses a couple games in a row. Maybe he's just protecting his body over team. You introduce questions you don't need to introduce. And I know most you young media, you're all pro player. The humanity of it. Nobody's looking for humanity. They're looking for 18, 19 games, 120 catches, playing hurt. That's what they're looking for. You ever watch the show Survivor? You ever watch that show? Who are the people that unravel first on survival? They miss their bed, they miss their friends. And you don't root for them. You view them as soft. You root when you watch Survivor for the people that are totally obsessed, they really Want to win, they're all in. That's what you want to see win. And again, it's not the end of the world. But you start talking retirement. This has been said for years and you're already there. You go back and look at Aaron Rodgers, 20, 23. Green Bay quoted, I'm 90% into retirement. He's never been great since Big Ben started talking retirement late Pittsburgh, it ended poorly. You can think about it, you can financially plan for it. I wouldn't discuss it. People are not looking for work, life balance. They want their player. I mean, again, the NFL is a team sport as great as Mahomes is. Two Super Bowls doesn't have the right left tackle humiliated. You gotta play hurt. This is not baseball. There's a game tomorrow. There's not, there's not a game for six months. Play hurt my groin. Yeah, get over it. Everybody's hurts. So it's, it's one of those things. And, and by the way, Puka's impact on the Rams, I mean, they're, they're, they're very good with him. They're, they're not good without him. But it in two years, by the way, if you're sitting there on the draft board and you're thinking, you know what, maybe time to go first round wide receiver. If anything, it could hurt your leverage. So sometimes you just got to keep things to yourself. And talking about retirement at 23, I don't love it. Aaron started talking about it four years ago and I think Green Bay said, well, that Jordan Love draft pick was pretty smart after all. Right? Because if he talked about it publicly in 2023, then you knew he had talked about it privately probably in 2021 or 2022. Because people talk privately about stuff before they go public with stuff. They practice it on their wives or their friends. They see the reaction from their family. So it's not the end of the world. But I don't love it because I talk to general managers all the time and they're not looking for, they're not looking for work, life, balance. Nobody's interested in that. They want you to be obsessed. Well, that's not healthy. Well, it's football. It's not that healthy to begin with. You're getting tackled by the strongest men on the planet. It's not that health. If again, protein shakes and play through pain. Plyometrics play through it. It's not the end of the world. But I don't, I don't love when, when Trevor Lawrence says, I'm not Defined by football. Actually, that comment sort of defined you. You're not obsessed by it. I know the young media Stallion's never comfortable with this topic. Sorry, Colin, not your, not, not your best work there. Not a huge fan of that take. I think I'm gonna catch some heat from the staff online. You know the creatines online that are savages. Yeah. Like if you could retire at 30 as a millionaire and not take hits to the head deep into your 30s. Yeah. Don't you do that. Yeah.
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Jason McIntyre
That's a no brainer.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah. And work smarter, not harder. Yeah. And what did I say to start the rant? Keep it to yourself. Don't advertise it. Don't tell everybody in the room, your gm, your teammates, guys, I'm putting away a lot of money. I am out of here. Just, just don't tell when you're interviewing for a job. What's my vacation time? You can watch six weeks. You'll probably get three or four. Don't advertise it, don't talk about it. You don't have to put every meal on Twitter, you know, you don't have to put everything on Twitter. Do you want him to lie in these media? Absolutely. All you think I tell before I negotiate with Fox? Everything I'm thinking. You think they're telling me everything? They're thinking probably my age starts with a six. You think they're telling me everything. You can keep secrets. That doesn't mean it's all sinister. You don't tell everybody everything. It's not. I mean, listen, here's how you keep your job in the NFL. Winning. And by the way, as a general manager, they all tell me this. They're already looking three drafts down the road. You think the Rams are just worried about this draft? They're looking at next year's quarterback draft because Stafford.
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Jason McIntyre
Interesting.
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Colin Cowherd
But by the way, the Rams know the best freshman quarterbacks in college football. They are three years. I remember one time I ran into the ex president of espn, George Bodenheimer in the parking lot years ago. I think I've told this story before and George, I was talking about some plans I had and George said, oh, I've got a five and a ten year plan. I said, how can you have a ten year plan? He goes, I know every right available over the next decade. You think these networks are just making it up? Do you think they're advertising it? No.
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Jason McIntyre
Okay.
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Colin Cowherd
Before, before companies let go of 300 people, it often catches people by surprise. Why? You don't think they knew about it six months out. Of course they did. I can remember being. I can remember being told a secret a decade ago by somebody in management. He said, you can never tell anybody this. And it was. It's a term now that's, that's used a lot, that's overused. But this manager said at the other place, he goes, just, just. We were having a beer and I was, you know, we were having a beer. He's one of my friends. He said, just, just don't mention this word ever. Like don't mention it. And I said, why? He goes, because it's all we talk about in our senior advisor meetings. Keep it to yourself. At the same time, don't you think it helps the teams prepare for as of like Andrew Luck caught them flat footed. The Colts were not ready. They've been in a total spiral since he left Aaron Donald. They had some time to prepare and guess what? They were load up. So adorable. Idealistic. Do you think the teams tell you their plans in advance? They should. To the superstars. Oh, they should. You don't think Fox runs to coward. A coward. What do you think about when did you become 23? I forgot. Oh, this idealistic. Shouldn't, shouldn't. I just shouldn't players tell the teams what they're going to do three years out? Not all players, but a handful of stars on the team.
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Jason McIntyre
The core. Right.
- [33:46]
Colin Cowherd
I would. If Joe Burrow says, hey I'm out of here at 35, you guys better get your act together. By the way, I'll give you an example. I'll give you an example of Kareem Abdul Jabbar Lu Alcindor at the time was in Milwaukee. He did the team a solid. This is very rare. He told the Bucks owner, I want out. Oh yeah, he would. He didn't make it public. He did the Bucks a total solid. So in that instance, when you know you're gone and you don't want to screw. By the way, he also kept it private because Kareem's very smart. He knew if he let it out, the Lakers would have less leverage. So Carmelo Anthony one time to your point was totally honest. So J. Mac's point is you have to be honest. Carmelo Anthony goes out and says, hey, I'm out of here. Denver, he got screwed because everybody knew Denver's like we're not going to give the Knicks anything. So he ended up being a $10 million chandelier in an empty mansion. Keep it to yourself. That doesn't mean I'm anti boss but they're not telling me everything. I'm not telling you everything. You want to retire? I got no problem with it. This is a new side of cowherd folks.
- [34:51]
Jason McIntyre
I gotta be honest.
- [34:51]
Colin Cowherd
I gotta button it up when I'm around you now. Better. Don't know if I can trust you with this Family secret honey. How do I look in this dress? Great, honey. What about my new haircut? You are amazing. That's the answer. Always wisdom. I like it. Live in la. It's the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd Weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. It's the last game of the season and with amex, you can save time with card member entrances at select venues and go straight to the action so you can catch every moment. That's the powerful backing of American Express Terms of Life. Learn more@american express.com with Amex. All you renters out there, here's something from Rocket Mortgage you're going to want to hear now. Anyone who has ever rented before knows that feeling you get every month. Your hard earned cash gone. It's like throwing money away. Even more frustrating is the knowledge that every dollar you spent on rent is a dollar you could have put towards your future. It can make it feel like you'll never be able to save enough to afford a home of your own. And that's what makes what Rocket Mortgage is doing so special. Rocket Mortgage is now helping you put your monthly rent payments towards home ownership. It's called Rent Rewards and for the first time, you can save up to $5,000 off the cost of your home just by paying rent. Only at Rocket Mortgage. If this sounds like something that could make a difference in your life, call 804Rocket or visit Rocket.com learn more about rent rewards that's 804Rocket or Rocket.com Rocket Mortgage LLC, equal housing lender licensed in all 50 states and MLS consumeraccess.org number 3030 this podcast is brought to you by Pfizer. If you're 50 or older, getting sick can keep you away from where you need to be. You don't want surprises like pneumococcal pneumonia or invasive pneumococcal disease. You're 6.4 times more likely to get pneumococcal pneumonia compared with adults 18 to 49. It's recommended that people 50 or older get vaccinated. Being sick could get between you and the people who rely on you, so schedule your shot@vaxassist.com youm can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months covering the NBA since the early 90s Fox Sports NBA analyst our friend Rick Bucher. You know it's I read a really interesting story the other day in the Athletic. A writer I did not know, but I thought it was an interesting point. He said March has always been a bad time. Late March is bad for the NBA because college basketball is playing with all this passion and intensity and NBA teams that aren't in the playoffs are like Pelican Sixers last night. Who are these guys? I had talked about this earlier load management. Most of the young guys like playing Tatum and sj. They want to play. A lot of the old guys like Giannis want nights off. I get it. I think you can as they tweaked it with the awards 65 games you can tweak load management. I do not believe watching Bill Simmons Celtic City with Larry Bird last night. Bad team, get Bird, great team. I don't think you can control it. It's the unsolvable problem. We knew two years ago, three years ago Cooper flag was good. Four years ago Wemby was teams plan like a three year plan by Popovich to get Wemby. You can argue when they didn't sign Dejounte Murray. So my takeaway is on all this is that there is an unsolvable problem in the NBA. Football's got violence. You can't solve it.
- [39:06]
Jason McIntyre
Right.
- [39:06]
Colin Cowherd
Baseball's got no urgency is I just think we have to get used to the bottom half of the NBA is gonna tank.
- [39:15]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah, I don't think it's the entire it's not the bottom half. I agree with you in that the the impact of a single player is so great in the NBA that you're never going to get rid of completely. Teams at the end of the year saying we don't have anything else to play for, let's play for that guy. And they're going to roll out lineups of guys, as you said, that you've never heard of before. But they have done a great job of minimizing that because it Used to be half of the league would be angling in that direction. Now with the play in, you have virtually like 12 teams in each conference that still have a chance to get into the play in. And if you get into the play in, then you get an extra, you know, potentially an extra game at home. That's money. And if you get into the playoffs now, you still have something to play for. And so those middle range teams that their odds are long to get that number one pick anyway are going to say we might as well try. We're going to be a mid range, mid first round pick anyway. The difference between being in the lottery or being 16 or 17 is so minimal. Why don't we just go ahead and see if we can make the play in like the Chicago Bulls right now. Normally in their situation they'd be like, let's play for the lottery. But if they can sneak into the play in and they win, they, they, they have put the position themselves where they only have to win one play in game and now we're in the playoffs. That's a plus for the front office and for everybody else. So I think they've done as much as they possibly can. You're always going to have teams like Philadelphia and New Orleans that have no hope.
- [40:55]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [40:55]
Jason McIntyre
But again, as long as it's minimized with a particular team like Detroit, now Detroit was there for two or three years, now they're not. Yeah, they've turned that around. They got a Cade Cunningham, they've been smart in their picks. So I, I, you're never going to completely get rid of it, but I think they've done a pretty good job with the play in, in minimizing it.
- [41:19]
Colin Cowherd
So there's always a honeymoon phase in relationships and in pro sports and the Luka lebron honeymoon phase was points and smiles and rainbows and now they've lost seven of 10 and LeBron's not at 100%. Is that, is, is, is that something that could explain suddenly the Lakers looking exhausted and joyless?
- [41:42]
Jason McIntyre
Well, first of all, I just appreciate that the honeymoon era with me and this show has not ended and it's been going on for years. I mean it's just, it's a beautiful thing. You're welcome, America. Yes. When, when, when LeBron or when, when Luca first got there, there was the euphoria of oh my God, we got luka doncic. And LeBron and Luka were doing their best to try to figure out how do we play together. And more importantly, they got everybody involved and what happened when LeBron stepped out is it became the Lucas Show.
- [42:16]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
- [42:17]
Jason McIntyre
Much like it was in Dallas.
- [42:19]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
- [42:19]
Jason McIntyre
And you heard the grumblings for years, like, love, Luka. Great player, great teammate, but. But, boy, is he ball dominant.
- [42:28]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
- [42:29]
Jason McIntyre
We stand around a lot waiting to see what he's going to do.
- [42:33]
Colin Cowherd
J. Mac, are you hearing this?
- [42:35]
Jason McIntyre
And so when LeBron stepped out, it became the Luca show.
- [42:41]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
- [42:41]
Jason McIntyre
And it looked like Dallas. Yes. And the reason that you had everybody definitely defending as hard as they were.
- [42:48]
Colin Cowherd
Because they were included, because they were.
- [42:50]
Jason McIntyre
Touching the ball, they knew that if they ran the floor, the ball was going to be passed ahead. And I might get a fast break late. LeBron has done as much of that as. As anybody said.
- [43:00]
Colin Cowherd
LeBron's always been more magic than Michael. He is the leader of an orchestra.
- [43:05]
Jason McIntyre
100.
- [43:05]
Colin Cowherd
Luke is a lead singer.
- [43:06]
Jason McIntyre
100. But this is the tricky part.
- [43:08]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [43:09]
Jason McIntyre
Here where they are right now. LeBron at 40, can't do all the things. He doesn't draw double teams. He's not attacking off the bounce and creating havoc defensively. Luka does that. He does it at a slower pace, but he's still attracting far more attention. And so that's where they're kind of stuck, is that Luka plays a certain slower way in terms of getting people involved. That isn't quite the same as LeBron at his best. And LeBron can't do it anymore. So he needs Luka to do that, but he needs Luka to do it faster. And Luka was doing that initially, but you take LeBron out of the equation, and now it's like. And. And just getting a little more comfortable. Right.
- [43:55]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [43:55]
Jason McIntyre
I'm going to do it my way. I need to get the numbers I needed to justify why I'm here.
- [43:59]
Colin Cowherd
First month on the job, everybody's on their basket.
- [44:01]
Jason McIntyre
Absolutely. Trying to make everybody look good. I am the best teammate.
- [44:06]
Colin Cowherd
Right.
- [44:07]
Jason McIntyre
Look, we're paying you X amount. We need you to deliver. Oh, okay.
- [44:11]
Colin Cowherd
All right.
- [44:11]
Jason McIntyre
I need to auger in.
- [44:12]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [44:12]
Jason McIntyre
That's what you're saying.
- [44:13]
Colin Cowherd
I may be a little delusional because I, you know, I loved. I love Steph, and I love Kerr and the warriors culture. And Draymond, I gotta tell you, Kaminga now back in tow. I really like the warriors in the postseason. I really like them. And I know. I'm thinking, okay, honeymoon phase, but actually, it's different because Jimmy is a better playoff guy. Yes. And Jimmy will set the hard screens in the playoffs. Yes. Is that this honeymoon? Let's be honest. Butler hasn't played well, hasn't shot well.
- [44:45]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah.
- [44:46]
Colin Cowherd
So my take is I really like the Warriors a lot. Is that just. Is that confirmation bias on a trade I love?
- [44:54]
Jason McIntyre
They're better. They're better, and they're more potentially lethal than I thought they would be. I thought that Jimmy Butler would give them a little bit of a bump. I think it's more than that, but it still stands on. And this is for everybody in the Western Conference. Who do you get matched up with and when do you get matched up with them? Because size is still going to be an issue for them, even with Jimmy Butler. If they see Denver or they see Minnesota, I. That there's potential trouble there because they just don't have size. Not. Not at their best, Jimmy Butler playing the four, and then Draymond Green playing the five. Like, that's sort of them at their best. And so it just depends on who they see and when they see them. But there are plenty of teams out there. The Houstons, the Memphis's, the Okcs, even where I like the warriors chances. But that's with everybody. Like, there's just certain teams that are built to play smaller and faster, and there are teams that are bigger, and like, Denver can't necessarily play fast. And so it's going to be a chess match there in terms of which wins out.
- [46:13]
Colin Cowherd
So we had this topic a week ago, and you may have put this in my ear. Maybe I heard you say it somewhere else. I don't recall. Sorry if it wasn't Rick, but somebody had said on the platforms that I listened to that every time Giannis gets brought up, Buck fans hate the national media because it's always, hey, when's he going to be a Knick or a Warrior?
- [46:34]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah.
- [46:34]
Colin Cowherd
But I think there's a bigger issue, and I thought I saw this when the Bucks played the warriors, is that this league changes fast. I mean, Dwight Howard's unstoppable, and now he can't play. Like, we don't need rebounders. Can you hit a three?
- [46:49]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah.
- [46:49]
Colin Cowherd
This is a cruel league. NFL has always been tough guys blocking and tackling, and at the heart of it in baseball, throw strikes, get people out. Basketball changes. And with Jokic and Wemby coming into the league, who can hit their point centers? Giannis, with no jumper, looks a little limited. And when Draymond shuts him down, yeah. You're like, damn, that was fast. From the next Kareem to kind of a limited player who, by the way, can't shoot free throws, even though he's at the line constantly. And it does feel like he's aged quickly, right?
- [47:30]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah. Well, look, if you think about where he started, he's grown immensely.
- [47:35]
Colin Cowherd
Unbelievable, right?
- [47:37]
Jason McIntyre
I mean, his game has evolved, but when we saw him at 24 and 25 and now he's playing in the finals and he's winning championships or winning a championship, the thought was he's going to continue to evolve. And quite honestly, that hasn't happened at the rate that we expected. I'm not so much worried about the three point shot as I am the mid range. He has to have a reliable mid range and that hasn't happened.
- [48:05]
Colin Cowherd
That's right.
- [48:05]
Jason McIntyre
And he has to be able to consistently knock down a free throw. And I am just. It is, I sometimes just watch Giannis's free throw form through the course of a season and it changes like 18 times.
- [48:20]
Colin Cowherd
That was shack.
- [48:21]
Jason McIntyre
He's trying something different like every two weeks and there's no consistency in doing that. And so, yes, you make a great point in terms of we have these bigs now, we've evolved from point guards to point forwards to now point centers. And Giannis ultimately in today's game should be that. But for him to be, and I don't think he's a great passer, but for him simply to operate in that mid post area where he can get everybody involved, he has to be a scoring threat from there. And right now he's not. And so, yeah, Giannis looks dated. The Milwaukee Bucks look dated overall because they are older and they don't have the athleticism.
- [49:12]
Colin Cowherd
The Stars game looks a bit antiquated.
- [49:14]
Jason McIntyre
But it's also, Giannis is at the heart of it. If Giannis develops a mid range, just a consistent mid range, and can knock down free throws, the Milwaukee Bucks wouldn't look nearly as old and out of contention as they do.
- [49:28]
Colin Cowherd
What are your NBA scouts and executives and people in your ecosystem saying about Cooper Flagg?
- [49:38]
Jason McIntyre
He's the complete package and that the beauty of him. I would compare him to Paolo Banchero in terms of a guy coming in who can play, who has the individual game and yet also knows how to play within a team. It's not all him.
- [49:54]
Colin Cowherd
Right.
- [49:55]
Jason McIntyre
And got a mature game, very mature game. Understands it. Knows how to play within a team, knows how to move without the ball and be able to play with it in his hands and be a playmaker. And obviously has the size and athleticism.
- [50:09]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [50:10]
Jason McIntyre
So look, is he on the freakish level of a wembanyama?
- [50:15]
Colin Cowherd
Not quite, but I'll throw This at you. He's Jayson Tatum, but more developed at this age that he does everything well. I don't know if he's great at anything. He's very good at everything.
- [50:28]
Jason McIntyre
I would agree with that. And I think he's got a little more grit than Jason.
- [50:33]
Colin Cowherd
I think he does, too.
- [50:34]
Jason McIntyre
He's got a little nasty.
- [50:35]
Colin Cowherd
That's exactly right.
- [50:36]
Jason McIntyre
He's Jason. Jason doesn't have it. I have to say, I was so gratified to hear. I saw a clip of Jayson Tatum's dad saying, you know, can your dad. He was asked, can your son evolve? And he was like, yes, he can. He needs to get a little more. He used different words, but he needs to get nastier. And I was like, thank you for all those knuckleheads out there who are.
- [51:00]
Colin Cowherd
Like, you're being so negative about Jason Tatum. He's got the da, da, da, da.
- [51:05]
Jason McIntyre
It was like, no, he's. He's too nice of a guy.
- [51:08]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [51:08]
Jason McIntyre
His dad is saying he's too nice of a guy. So if you're complaining about anybody who points that out, sit the bleep down.
- [51:18]
Colin Cowherd
Thank you. And. And by the way, we both love Jason Tatum.
- [51:20]
Jason McIntyre
Without question.
- [51:21]
Colin Cowherd
Great kid.
- [51:22]
Jason McIntyre
I thought he should be the. I thought he should be the finals mvp. He was their do everything guy.
- [51:27]
Colin Cowherd
He's having his best year ever.
- [51:29]
Jason McIntyre
I know, Jaylen.
- [51:29]
Colin Cowherd
I know.
- [51:30]
Jason McIntyre
Look, Jaylen Brown has that. I want to be the closer. Has more of that. Has more of that nasty. That's the. That's the one thing he has over Jason Tatum. But Jason Tatum does everything for the Boston Celtics. I. I'm not. He's. He has this sprain that's a little questionable.
- [51:45]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. And he never gets hurt.
- [51:48]
Jason McIntyre
Never gets hurt. And it looked like a high sprain, which takes longer.
- [51:51]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [51:52]
Jason McIntyre
But they can get through the first round without him, the way the Eastern Conference is. So he's got a good four weeks. I think they're okay.
- [51:59]
Colin Cowherd
Do you play the brackets at all the.
- [52:02]
Jason McIntyre
With the NBA or the ncaa?
- [52:03]
Colin Cowherd
Ncaa.
- [52:04]
Jason McIntyre
Ncaa. And for the first time ever, I know the least about college basketball. This year, I'm in. Last I checked, I was tied for first in my. In my bracket. I filled out two. One is in last place, the other one's in first place. So you can tell me I went wild on one and I went conventional on the other. And conventional is. That's a whole other subject. Conventional now is. Is the way to go. Because all of the star power, thanks to the money, is being allocated in major programs.
- [52:36]
Colin Cowherd
It's funny. When Nil came out, there was, you know, there was different opinions on it.
- [52:41]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah.
- [52:42]
Colin Cowherd
But what it's done is the same thing AI Is going to do.
- [52:45]
Jason McIntyre
Yeah. Centralize things.
- [52:47]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. It's just the big dogs will win, like AI. It's going to be six companies that, that can Microsoft control it and, you know, Google will have theirs.
- [52:56]
Jason McIntyre
And everybody thinks it's going to spread the wealth and it's going to make it, make it equal. It's going to do the exact opposite. It's going to consolidate.
- [53:03]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. Good stuff today. Thank you. Met your son as well. He's a football player on the East Coast. Well, let me guess, let me guess. Linebacker.
- [53:10]
Jason McIntyre
Bingo. Very good. Well done.
- [53:14]
Colin Cowherd
He's got shoulder. He's got shoulders.
- [53:15]
Jason McIntyre
I got. Yeah. I have to, I have to negotiate my way with him now. Can't put him in this place.
- [53:21]
Colin Cowherd
That's my life experience. Everything with J. Mac is negotiation. And I mean that lovingly. All right. Good stuff. Rick Bucher live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. Hey, it's Steve Covino and I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio. And of course, the iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world. We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture.
- [53:59]
Jason McIntyre
Stories that, well, other shows don't seem.
- [54:02]
Colin Cowherd
To have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports radio and the iHeartradio app from 5 to 7, 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Kobe Know Rich.
- [54:28]
Jason McIntyre
Wherever you get your podcast.
- [54:29]
Colin Cowherd
And of course, on social media, that's Covino and Rich. This is Nikki Glaser from the Nikki Glaser podcast. Have you guys seen this new commercial from Stand up to All Hate? It's basically Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady going back and forth with reasons that they hate each other. But then when you really listen to them, the reasons for the hate are just so stupid. I don't know. This this commercial really got me. It's a strong reminder that hate in our country continues to be out of control. So join us at iHeart in standing up to it. If you see hate, speak up. Call it out. Your voice is a powerful tool in this fight. You can learn more by following OTs upwithhate with the Stock up sale at Safeway and Albertsons. Stock up and earn four times points at your local store when you purchase participating products. Save on family snack favorites like Frito Lay chips, Tim's Cascade Chips, Dan and Yogurt and Oreos. Clip the offer in the app for event savings and look for participating items throughout the store. Shop in store or online. Plus you can even have your groceries delivered or use Drive up and go to have your groceries brought to your car at the store. Restrictions and exclusions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details. We live in a divided country, and our media couldn't be more polarizing. That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation. Each week we hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country, and when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news. Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you know that 70% of people get hired at companies where they already have a connection? I'm Andrew Seaman, LinkedIn's editor at large for jobs and career development, and on my podcast Get Hired, I bring you all the information you need to, well, get hired. Landing a job may be tough, but Get Hired is here for you every step of the way, with advice on resumes, networking, negotiation and so much more. Listen to Get Hired with Andrew seaman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you like to listen.